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Lowell canal cleaners take on muck and mire

Betsy Chisholm of Lowell joins the Lowell Canalwaters Cleaners as they take on the muck and debris in downtown Lowell Saturday. SUN / KATIE DURKIN

This article is the latest in The Sun's "Be a Volunteer" series. Got a suggestion? Email it to news@lowellsun.com.

LOWELL -- With hooks, nets and winches the no-nonsense volunteers of the Lowell Canalwaters Cleaners have pulled just about any refuse you can imagine out of the city's historic canals.

The water-logged tree branches and sand-filled tires are particularly troublesome, but they end up piled on the bank all the same.

Caring for the canals, one of Lowell's defining features, is a mucky, pay-less job. And it didn't get done until about 12 years ago, when Bill Moreau, of Chelmsford, gathered together a group of like-minded people who didn't want the waterways to go to waste.

"To come from a neighboring town --- that really surprised me right off the bat," long-time member of the group Bob Gagnon said of Moreau. "I credit Bill with everything. For me, it was like ground zero, everything started at that first meeting."

Around 75 people attended, Gagnon remembered, and the group has boasted more than 100 volunteers for some cleanups. On Saturday morning, they gathered on Moody Street to trawl the canals on National Public Lands Day.

"We're so lucky to have all these canals and they have such potential that I think it's a shame that they are overlooked and not enough attention is paid to them," said Nancy Donahue, another staple of the group.

But things have improved significantly in recent years, she added.

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They find less trash than they used to and other members of the community seem to be taking more notice of the canals.

She remembered one cleanup when a man stopped by and asked what she was doing down in a canal. When she told him the group was picking up trash, he cut his sweatpants into shorts and jumped down to help.

Moreau has had to step back from the group somewhat to maintain his health -- although he still attends most cleanups -- but the group has maintained the kind of gruff, get-the-job-done attitude he instilled it with, members said.

"We didn't want to complain about what was going on in the city, but to do something about it," said Stephen Greene.

Over the years the group has managed to force a certificate of recognition into Moreau's hands, and Lowell Canalwaters Cleaners has not gone without thanks.

The Lowell National Historic Park, in particular, has been an invaluable partner in the work.

Changes to the city's trash policies have helped reduce the amount of garbage that makes its way into the canals, and there are certain areas where the Lowell Canalwaters Cleaners see the waterways remaining consistently clean.

They're still looking for more dedicated volunteers -- and maybe a few younger bodies to compliment the experience of the core group -- but the cleanups have been going so well they're expanding their mission to include clearing parts of the city of weeds and vines, Gagnon said.

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